


Safety In Dreams

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bathing/Washing, Caretaking, Caring, Delirium, Fever, Fever Dreams, Guilt, Hallucinations, Impersonation, Lies, Major Illness, Mid-Canon, Mistaken Identity, Multiple Selves, Sickfic, Tenderness, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 21:59:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15180275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Jackieboy is forced to take care of Schneep when he contracts a dangerous fever. This includes suffering with him through his delirium.





	Safety In Dreams

_I wasn’t…I wasn’t made for this._

_I wasn’t made to be this, to do this—I wasn’t—This isn’t how it’s meant to be._

The washcloth was too soggy after Jackieboy dunked it in the sink; even his hurried squeeze to wring it out only left it dripping down his wrists as he swiped it gently over his friend’s forehead and cheeks, smearing away the sweat. Even the cold water in the cloth couldn’t rid his skin of the blistering heat, however; Jackie could feel it singeing his fingertips as he worked.

Biting his lip as the warmth bled into the compress, rendering it useless, he set it aside, opting instead to comb his hand through stray strands of dark hair, still foreign without their green. Even the roots of his hair and his scalp were too hot, dangerously so. The hero wished he could be relieved when Schneep responded to the contact, but all he did was murmur deliriously under his breath.

“Maire…Maire, don’t…don’t go…” he moaned, tilting his head to lean into Jackie’s hand. “Don’t…”

Schneep wanted his wife. The sound of her name made something bitterly tight in Jackieboy’s stomach turn and he lowered his head, clenching his eyes shut for a moment as he tried to remember breathing worked. As Jackieboy’s fingers stilled in his hair, Schneep panted softly, as if he had forgotten how to breathe himself.

“N’hh—nnh—” he whined, chapped lips moving indecipherably as he twitched and turned, as if to recoil from some unseen enemy. “N-No—”

“Hey, hey! It’s okay, you’re okay,” Jackieboy cut in as soon as he tried to lift his hands, promptly snatching ahold of them and guiding them carefully back down. Schneep’s fingers continued to grasp helplessly at the air underneath his own and Jackie promptly squeezed them, trying to settle him. “Shh…shh-shh-shhh…try not to move, okay? It’s going to be alright.”

“Please…please, y’can’t…” Schneep’s eyes flickered open then, half-lidded and glazed with fever as they slid around the room, vacant, unseeing. As soon as they reached Jackie’s face, however, they widened, tears and recognition surfacing under the glassy surface. “…J-Jack?”

The older Ego reeled back slightly at that, his hand tightening over the other’s, but before he could muster any protest, Schneep’s free hand was reaching for him, fingers clumsily tracing the side of his face. Even his touch was scalding, Jackieboy noted with a wince as Schneep repeated the name of their creator, reverent and sincere.

“Jack…I—I need t’keep you safe,” he murmured, his words slurring slightly as his hand slid to Jackie’s neck, gripping at his collar. “Can’t let you sleep again. Not again. Can’t…lose you…”

Shaking his head as Schneep’s fingertips dug into the side of his neck, Jackieboy stammered despairingly, “Henrik, I’m not—”

“Jack…?” his friend repeated yet again, wavering, quivering, tears spilling through the streaks of old sweat over his cheeks, unnoticed.

Jackieboy couldn’t force himself to swallow through the lump in his throat. He wasn’t made for this. He didn’t know how to do this.

Slipping unsteady fingers under the edges of his mask, he slid it down so it hung around his neck, blinking hard as he returned one hand to Schneep’s sweaty, matted hair and tried for a smile.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “It’s Jack.”

Relief and adoration falling over his face, Schneep nodded, exhaling shakily and letting his eyes close as Jackie combed his hair.

“Safe…” he breathed, barely audible, nuzzling into the cool touch. “You’re safe…Keep you safe…”

Guilt, agony, and the grim realization that this had to be done were hammering away in his chest as Jackieboy agreed tremulously, “I know you will. Y-You always keep me safe, Henrik. No one I’d trust more. No one better.” There was far more to his voice than an imitation of Jack; it only lent him more truth, made him more convincing. 

Something that could have been a smile if given more time quirked the doctor’s lips briefly before they fell lax and he slipped back out of consciousness.

 _I’m sorry. I’m so sorry_.


End file.
